Why are some of the reviewers reviewing stuff they havent bought through Amazon?

Just a query:How do you decide how to 'mark' a brilliant movie that has poor sound etc? Or a classic novel that you love, but that has the odd misprint or whatever? Does a cheap & nasty version of War & Peace get 1 or 5?I've often wondered this: personally I'd give it 5, with a note about the flaws of that edition .

I don't think the stars mean much really. I always read a spread of reviews and it's more about what is said in the body of review, that is important.

If you look at Amazon's guidelines, 5 stars just means " I really like it" : which doesn't mean it's a classic of its kind or the best thing since sliced bread. They are purely subjective and tell you nothing really.

Which is why you can't review a DVD/Blu Ray because you've just watched it on telly. If it has really poor sound and picture transfer (and some do), you mention it in the review. However, if you review it from what you saw on the telly, it will be obvious you haven't seen what Amazon is selling.

The first post/only post/sycophantic post is a bit of a giveaway and it's a hoot in IMDB where it's quite common for friends of a vanity publisher/producer

The MOST blatant example I have ever found was as follows - please forgive me but I have published my entire IMDB review in this reply as I think it's relevant. If it is poor judgment on my part, please advise me and I will trim it/

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0768222/

Night of the Templar (2012)

Reviewed from a parallel universe, far, far away8 June 2013 - 4 out of 6 users found this review helpful.

A Paul Sampson Film.

Occasionally I watch a film that leaves me so dumbstruck that I go and look it up on the ol' net thingy. This is one such film. I watched amazed as this trope-fest unfolded in front of me, shook my head and went looking for the reviews. My amazement at the film was nothing compared with my amazement at the glowing reviews with their talk of fine acting and marvellous story, superb direction, lavish sets..

I was so amazed that I checked the profiles and review of a couple of the critics. Yep. it was the only film they'd reviewed. I checked a couple more, then another half dozen, then a dozen... Sure enough, in each and every case it was the only film they'd ever reviewed on IMDb. I gave up after just over half of the reviews. All were one-offs. Am I seeing a smoking gun here, anyone? Of course, my selection of reviewers was made blindly, though apparently with the sort of randomness that makes us all lightning-struck lottery winners. Maybe the ones I didn't look at were all seasoned critics who had never met Paul Sampson. You can do your own leg-work - or let your inner statistician decide.

A Paul Sampson Film.

The hilarity began with the opening credits.. A Paul Sampson film, handled by Sampson Enterprises. Produced by Paul Sampson. Directed by Paul Sampson. I think maybe Wardrobe by Paul Sampson, Catering by... I'm sure you get the picture. Starring wait for it... wait for it, it'll be a surprise... PAUL SAMPSON!!!

Rather like - Starring George Lucas as Darth Solo!!!-

Now I've absolutely nothing against vanity enterprises. Some great art has come our way thusly. This isn't some of it, unfortunately. This is to film what the Dave Clarke Five was to drumming - pretty boy with the business plan at the front of the stage. In this case, pretty boy with (it seems) a lot of friends with favours he can call in, in front of the camera. The whole premise is "look how handsome/cool I am.. how can I wrap some kind of plot around that to justify me mugging at the camera for an entire feature film?" Well, he's appealing enough in a caricature-handsome large-featured kind of way and he's in pretty good shape, but boy, he wants us to notice it. If anyone doubts this, check out the whole new genre of "Sword and Underwear" he seems to have invented as an answer to decades of chain-mail bikini fantasies. Unfortunately it presents as very dry parody, which is often a wonderful thing - but not when it's this clumsy and the thing being parodied is the ongoing film itself. Anyway, the acting, and "feel" of the entire film was that of a comedy TV series doing a sketch based on an early 80s porn film, without any of the porn. Not the Swedish/Dutch "I haff cumm to mends your vashink machine. It looks ferry vet down there, let me get my tool out while the funky guitar and keyboard play..." but the American/German "We have rented a place in the country and have only one reel of film. Let us party and think up a situation we can finish up by being naked and smearing each other with offal and ketchup" type of entertainment that my grandmother so likes to watch, but purely for the soundtrack.

I enjoyed the watching of the film, rather than enjoyed watching it if you see the difference. Sometimes I enjoy the process of watching the film-making, not necessarily the end result. Here the end result was risible, which is rather a shame because a couple of the cast were really putting something special into it and it was nice to see Carradine again though the parallels with Béla Lugosi in Plan Nine From Outer Space drew rather poignant grid lines. Sadly missed, both. Worth seeing as a curiosity, and if I must draw another parallel - in intent if not style or subject matter - I'd say Easy Rider for the focus on the ac-tors rather than the pseudo medievalism of Monty Python and the Holy Grail - which was far funnier on a smaller budget. Knights/Night Templar was not intentionally funny, and was not terrible enough to be really great as some truly memorable turkeys are, but it is an awful, fascinating train wreck of a movie which has no charm whatever. I feel the same cast could have pulled it off with more astute direction, but we'll never know for certain.

Oh - nice to see Mr Mxyzptlk again, playing The Butler.

3 out of 10 as it stopped me thinking about the overdraft and sciatica for the duration.

Damn!I was so intrigued by promises of eccentric tastes that I just ran off and read ALL your reviews (not the comments.)How disappointed was I to find an utter dearth of salacious scandalworthy lasciviousness but a catholic smorgasbord of near chaotic variety. You are indeed the sort of person I would like to take afternoon tea with, discussing crocheting and the inside leg measurements of the Royal household while inventing entirely new directions of intellectual absorption - teapot collecting in the Outer Hebrides, the complete poetical works of E.R.N.I.E. Ghengis Khan - a basic cookbook for those on the move or how to knit our own garden ornaments.Oops. I think that may have come out unintentionally over-surreal.

There's a pattern to your reviewing - you are as concerned with the presentation of a thing or an idea as much as with the substance. It's good to know how easy it is to relate to a book without reading spoilers or how to erect a deckchair as well as what it's like to sit in it.

Perhaps I should have said eclectic? But I prefer eccentricity in most of its forms. Strange you should mention the Ghengis Khan cookery book Ivan.....!Don't think Im a particularly good reviewer, Just given an honest opinion of a product as I find it.Thanks for your reply

Also take account that you don't actually know if someone has bought something the "Verified Purchase" label is optional you do not have to display it. I do not know why anyone would not but it is still optional.

The Verified Purchase label is fine when it works.My latest review for Titanic Memorabilia Pack did not show up as a Verified purchase,so I queried the issue. Customer Services told me to click Edit review and it would befine. It still will not work for that particular order, so their records are crap.

The purchase was made in 2011 and I wonder if Verified Purchase was operating thatfar back? However, the item shows up in my past orders so Amazon should be able toverify the purchase. Sometimes the system appears to be totally obtuse.

I have reviewed items bought elsewhere and given to me for free, I do not really see the problem in posting those reviews to Amazon. I receive books for free from authors, publishers and agents. I always say if the item was received for free, I do not guarantee 5 star ratings.

>How do you decide how to 'mark' a brilliant movie that >has poor sound etc? Or a classic novel that you love, but >that has the odd misprint or whatever? Does a cheap & nasty version of War & Peace get 1 or 5?

with specific detail.

One of the big problems with Amazon reviews is that they lump together all reviews of a particular title with no regard for the format, so someone having, say, problems with crap sound on a Bluray will have that posted together with critiques of the DVD which may well have brilliant sound - or no sound at all.

Is there a cheap and nasty "written" version of War and Peace? As its one of my favourite books would love to compare.Comparisons are supposed to be odious, but the bottom line is that your review reflects your enjoyment of the product. All reviews are merely a view of the person who has taken the time to express an opinion. They are not fail safe recommendations for or against purchasing any given product.

I do it because this website has almost everything available for sale, and the reviews are easy to find, but it's not always the cheaper place, so when I have a chance to write a review for a product that I bought cheaper elsewhere, I do it. Not because I want to help Amazon get a sale as we all know that reviews are about the product, not the site. When people write stuff like "The product arrived broken and Amazon did not refund" on a review, everyone complains and says that the review is to talk about the product, and that's true, so why do we need to buy from Amazon if the review is not about Amazon? If I found something cheaper elsewhere and would like to tell others my experience with the item, it doesn't matter where I bought it. Some might say "manufacturers might cheat the system and write positive reviews about it", however there are loads of customers who can write negative ones in return! Nobody will pay more to buy on Amazon just to write a review, reviews are an act of goodwill and cost time, so people should not be demanding reviewers to buy from Amazon and pay extra. There's also some of us (like me) who don't agree with Amazon's tax situation so I won't buy my stuff from here but it's a place where I can come to read opinions about stuff that I want to buy or I can tell everyone my own impressions.